Axis:Bold as Love -What strat gets that tone?

[spudco]

I've been searching for the strat tone that Hendrix gets on Axis. On the clean rhythm parts (especially the title track) there is a certain quality to it. Maybe "woody" or "organic" would be the right words, I'm not not sure what to call it.
Does anyone else know what I mean? If so, how do I find a strat with that tone? Are there certain types of strats that have it? Particular features that produce it? Or is it hit or miss? Do I have to keep trying every strat I can get my hands on to find the "one"?

[Peppy]

It's more than the Strat...amps, the way it was recorded.

[Steve73]

I'd say a rosewood necked Strat with low to medium output pickups and a great sounding Fender amp. Well, that and Hendrix's hands.

Honestly, the tone is more in his hands than any one part of his gear I think....

[khromagi]

Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Kramer, forget trying to find the "one"

[bleomonkey]

picking style

[Sean French]

Jimi used late 60's Strat's.
So,an Alder body and Maple neck will be the foundation.
There rest is in the playing and Amp.
You'll be able to get the tone with just about any Strat and appropriate amp IMO.

[ILikeGuitar]

I hear a slight fuzz?

[LReese]

I'll take a stab at it.... Strat Fuzzface JTM45/Tweed Bassman type of amp, then some compression/reverb, etc. With an Axe-FX, I can get close on a JTM 45 model set clean, room reverb then a drive model afterwards set up for "Tape Distortion". The tape distortion model gives it that slight distortion and compression that make the sound.

[ahardmark]

I thought he had the fuzz on all the time, and turned down the guitar to clean it up, but I may well be wrong. Anyhow, there's a lot more to it than just the guitar, but you could take a look at a Custom Shop '69 Reissue as a starting place.

[niksevig119]

i bit of twin reverb was used on the record as well. a strat with a twin

[greggorypeccary]

When I listen to Jimi's records I hear an amp played loudly in the room, as opposed to a close mic'd Champ or something like that. As others have said it was Jimi & Eddie Kramer along with some guitars and amps.

[Jim S]

I don't know how they got that tone. But I get orgasmically close--found out by accident & I have loved that record since I first hear it in 1979:

rosewood board + alder strat w/ volume knob dropped a hair >
Lovepedal Les Luis > BF SR

I assume any BF style amp will do in the above setting. Good luck.

[jgyn]

I can get close with a Stratocaster with low output pickups, strings .010 or lighter, and a Marshall Super Lead. For fuzz, use a Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz.

[robertkoa]

I think you should try the Mahogany bodied Strats sold at Guitar CEnter for those tones. Another way to get even more of it is to get a Carvin Bolt guitar with a maple neck, and a solid Mahogany or Koa body and you'll have those warm fat tones without needing Eddie Kramer and you won't need Jimi's magic fingers either, get 3 AP11 pickups or 2 AP11s and a Bridge Humbucker. Carvin Bolts are like a Strat but more resonance and sustain (they are usually MUCH louder unplugged than a Strat) so it's easier to achieve tha Fatter Strat tones of Hendrix, Gilmore etc. but you need tapped single coils or lower output singles to get the really thin crystalline tones.

[tjmicsak]

I hear two seperate tracks. The right is very dynamic, clean when played light, but has that bite when played hard as in the first chords. Sounds like a 4/10 baseman on the verge with plenty of base and even a slight bit of mud you can hear later on. The left track sounds like a JTM45 with a fuzz, rolled back early, then kicked up for that velcro ripping thing. Distance Mic-ed but not too far away. The drum track is where the reverb and ambiance is, not on the guitars. Plenty of jet flanging to boot. Anyone know the specific flanger used here? This was real popular with some Deep Purple tracks too.....

[sixty2strat]

That was Tape flanging

I have heard for what it is worth the used a Soundcity(pre hiwatt label) on that album

[WoodyTone com]

Try a damn good Marshall-esque head with a lot of headroom. If price is no object or you're handy with a soldering iron, get the 45/100 here:

http://plexireplicas.com/metropoulos-amplifiers/

[shark_bite]

Got pretty close with a parts Strat I used to have - a couple critical points: 1, bigg-ish maple neck with a maple board. 2, Fender CS69s get you closest from the pickup side of things. 3, Fender 59 Bassman LTD. There are a million shades of gray here, but with the right style of playing, that would put you right in the ballpark of the Hendrix tone.

[heavysoul]

strat + germanium fuzz(guitar volume rolled back) + marshall super lead

[khromagi]

It's the player and the engineer

[Mickey Shane]

Jimi always turned his guitar's middle knob to 0.

[speedtaco]

I had always heard it was a strat into a twin reverb. I heard that many years ago, and it sounds like it to me.